Deva celebrating after qualification

CIP Deva have kept their UEFA Futsal Cup dreams alive after a thrilling conclusion to Group 6 of the Main Round in Romania today.

Hosts happy
Deva were hosting the four-team mini-tournament and needed victory against KMF Marbo Beograd to qualify for the Elite Round. Deva went into the contest three points behind Beograd, who could still take one of the two qualification places with defeat, and FC Marlène Kras Ster, who had concluded their three-match programme with a 4-1 win against KMN GIB Beton MTO Zagorje earlier in the day.

Lupu the hero
In the decisive game with Beograd, Robert Lupu was the hero for Deva. The sides were level at 1-1 at half-time, but Lupu then struck twice in the 36th and 39th minutes to give his side a 3-1 lead, before Igor Šošo made for a nervy finish when he pulled one back for Beograd with 34 seconds remaining. The home team hung on, however, and their 3-2 victory ensured them second place behind the team from Serbia.

Marvellous
Karoly Gaspari, Deva coach said: "Words can't express how happy I am that we are through to the Elite round. It is incredible for such a new and young team. The hall was full of our supporters, it is marvellous. In my opinion both us and Beograd deserved to go through." Deva had begun their campaign with a 3-2 defeat by Dutch club Marlène but got back on track on Friday with a 6-3 win against MTO Zagorje of Slovenia.

Still happy
Beograd had made sure of their progress by beating Zagorje 4-1 and then seeing off Marlène 5-2. Their coach Goran Ivanić was not too downbeat by their loss in the final fixture today. "We played well in the first half and are very happy to go through. Deva are a strong team and they showed a lot of intensity throughout the match. In the end the result is the right one. Their fans were fantastic and never stopped giving support."

Next year
There were naturally contrasting emotions from the two eliminated clubs, particularly Marlène who just missed out. Their coach Frankfort Maarten said: "We did our part in winning today’s game [against Zagorje], but qualification was not ultimately in our hands. It has been a very balanced tournament and I want to wish the qualifiers luck for the next step." MTO Zagorje coach Zeljko Pjetlović said: "We are very sorry to have lost all three games but we had no experienced. I hope that next year we will have another chance to show our quality."